Ellen DeGeneres & Portia de Rossi forced to flee their mansion before it goes up in flames

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have been forced to flee their beachfront $45 million mansion in California as immense wildfires roar through the state. More than 5,700 firefighters are working to contain the blaze.

The Thomas Fire, now expanded to almost 231,000 acres, has raged through southern California over the past week. The disaster has left a scorch mark larger than New York City and strong winds keep spreading the flames. The fire is 15% contained as of this writing.

In two tweets, DeGeneres told her followers that the couple were evacuating and taking their four-legged friends with them. She also reported that neighbors in her community were helping each other evacuate – with their pets.

Our house is under threat of being burned. We just had to evacuate our pets. I’m praying for everyone in our community and thankful to all the incredible firefighters. The live stream is on https://t.co/FTcKVvHO16

Everyone in the Montecito area is checking up on each other and helping to get people and animals to safety. I’m proud to be a part of this community. I’m sending lots of love and gratitude to the fire department and sheriffs. Thank you all. #ThomasFire